Card Games
by teenlezbians
Summary: Carmine Falcone is dead and now every nobody who wants to be somebody is out to grab hold of his empire. Harley and Ivy find themselves caught in a turf war that threatens to bring Gotham to its knees. Pitted against each other Ivy finds that Harley may be the lynchpin needed to hold the city together. Ivy must open her heart or risk losing Harley to darkness forever. Harley/Ivy


**Card Games:**

 _First Hand_

Gotham had five burrows. In the north was Uptown, where billionaires like Bruce Wayne gambled away their fortunes on women and wine. Its borders were clearly marked by the four rivers which crossed it on all sides: North River, East River, Queens River and River Merchant. On the other side of the River Merchant was Midtown, the pisshole heart of the city, where anyone could go to be forgotten. The only notable thing about Midtown was its claim to the Narrows, an island from where Arkham's long-reaching shadow stretched across its southern border. To the south was Downtown, Chinatown, and Cobble Hill, the boundaries of which changed daily and yet no one faction ever controlled managed to control the whole of the island.

Gotham, as dark as it was, had balance. Every cutpurse, killer, and half-wit knew which lines not to cross. And while the Batman was certainly something to fear, even he wasn't prepared for the bloody civil war that erupted the night Carmine Falcone fell to his death, late one summer evening.

The Joker

Ivy had been summoned. The thought tasted bitter, but it was nonetheless true. The playing card read, "Saturday 1am" Joker. She knew exactly what it meant, everyone south of Midtown did. It had been one hundred and eighty days since Falcone mysteriously fell to his death and still the bloody turf war for Downtown Gotham dragged on. Any other year she might have ignored him- Who was he compared to a goddess of the earth?- but war meant casualties and fires that spread through her parks and killed her precious Green.

The clock tower struck one somewhere off in the night as Ivy approached the Joker's newly established court, a club called Savage, with an entourage of no less than twelve well-oiled muscle men in tow.

"Name."

"Ivy. He's expecting me."

The bouncer eyed the dozen or so shirtless men who stood flexing behind her. Gently she turned his gaze back to her with the ghost of a finger.

"They're purely for entertainment, I promise" she soothed. Without an afterthought, the bouncer agreed and stepped aside.

"Spread out and blend in, but don't take your eyes off the clown or his idiots." She barked as ten of her zombied followers disappeared into the throng of party goers. The other two cleared a path toward the VIP lounge where The Joker sat animated in conversation. Ivy was only a few steps away when he looked up and met her eye.

"Pamala! It's so good to have you." he jeered as she shrugged off her coat and revealed a dazzling midlength emerald dress which highlighted the color of her eyes and offset her red hair. " Well aren't I the lucky boy-I'm honored."

"Put your tongue back in your head, Joker. It's not for you." She paused and with a smile she added. "It's for me. I don't go out often and the mood struck me."

"You wound me." he laughed his painful high pitched laugh "You even brought your own dates."

His eyes flicked around the room and his smile fell away.

"Several in fact," he grumbled.

Ivy relished his irritation. She was no friend of the clown nor any power-hungry-ego maniacal-man for that matter. While she ranked high among the other Arkham alum she could care less about their petty bat problems so long as the Green remained untouched.

She made herself comfortable in the Joker's thrown and crossed her legs regally, the Joker took the couch seat opposite her and playfully matched her posture.

"So, is there a reason you invited me here or were you just hoping for a kiss." Her eyes flashed a toxic green.

The Joker sneered a cold smile, but as he began to speak a pair of pale white arms emerged from the party and snaked their way down his torso possessively.

"Hiya Puddin."

Joker seemed to forget Ivy entirely as he pulled the woman around toward him so that he could have a better look at her. There was an unnaturalness to the way they moved that made Ivy uncomfortable. It was as though they were shackled together by an invisible chain.

"Who's ya friend?" She asked with a ditzy roll of her hair.

"Pamela, allow me to introduce you to my other half, Harley Quinn." Harley stood up and approached Ivy with a childlike curiosity, fearless. It unbalanced Ivy and sparked her curiosity. One simply did not casually approach Poison Ivy.

"Ah uh. No touching." The Joker said catching Harley by the hand, in a tone that sounded almost fatherly. "Our dear friend is quite poisonous to touch."

Harley looked at the Joker and then back at Ivy who merely quirked an eyebrow.

"Fun." She smiled, but her playful demeanor didn't reach her eyes. Ivy might have assumed she was just another bimbo draping herself across a powerful man's arm if it weren't for the steal behind her vivid blue eyes. There was something very wrong about this Harley Quinn.

Harley let go of his hand and took a seat on the couch closest to the throne where Ivy sat, her eyes never leaving her pale green skin.

"You were about to explain why you've brought me here when there are more than enough fires which need putting out." Ivy redirected.

The Joker clapped his hands.

"Precisely! You see there's been a gap in leadership ever since Falcone slipped off that roof and I've been working my poor fingers to the bone trying to honor his memory-"

"Skip to the point or I'm leaving." Ivy said coldly. The Joker's face fell again and his attitude suddenly became dark. She could feel Quinn grow tense beside her too.

"Alright, fine." He hissed. " I'm offering you half of East Park if you'll give me your support when I make my move against Cobblepot."

"Half ?" Ivy scoffed. "I'll have the whole thing with or without you."

"Not if I raise it to the ground before the night is through." The Joker's lips curled into a wicked toothy smile that didn't touch his eyes.

Ivy tisked unfazed by his threat.

"Old hat dear. You on the other hand-" it was her turn to look amused as the air around her began to fill with the sweet smell of pheromones. The Joker's eyes glazed over as did his men who stood nearby. She could see the struggle to resist her suggestive voice, but in the end there was no escape. He was hers.

"Let me be very clear. I am not your pet or play thing. I do not answer to you. I am mother earth and I speak her will. You will not summon me to you again and you will not move on any land that rightfully belongs to me." Ivy rose to her feet, but was surprised to feel the cool touch of metal on her temple. "Interesting."

Harley stood to her right, revolver in hand. Ivy calmly looked over at her and with two fingers she pushed the gun away from her face. Harley's fierce blue eyes bore into her.

"Don't be foolish." cooed Ivy who could see her pheromones doing their work. "You don't want to hurt me."

Ivy hesitated for only a moment. She reached out, brushed back Harley's hair, and pressed their lips together. A brief spark of warmth passed between before Harley crumpled to the floor, fast asleep.

Ivy had no interest in participating in Gotham's own civil war, but she would not allow the Green to come to harm. If the Joker wanted a turf war, then he would get it.

The Queen of Spades

Selena Kyle was the second person to proposition Ivy that night. For many years Ivy had called Robinson Park in Midtown her home. The surrounding streets were referred to as "No Man's Land" by the local gangs and she found that quite fitting. Thanks to her care Robinson Park had turned from a patchy dirt lot into a overgrown evergreen forest inside a dying city. Even Batman kept out of her business there so long as she kept her nose clean. So as Selena tredded the narrow path deep into her domain, Ivy kept her children at bay out of curiosity.

"What could be so important that you would risk one of your nine lives to see me?" Ivy asked with an exhausted drawl.

"Friendship," Selena said smartly. She tried to make herself appear at ease though she was well out of her element.

The monstrous vine of Wisteria which Ivy reclined, lowered itself down so that she and Selena were eye to eye.

"I've had a very stressful night Selena, so can we please skip the jibes this time."

"That's the best part." She joked. " Things with The Joker didn't pan out then?"

"Are you asking for you or for _him_ " she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. When Catwoman didn't respond right away Ivy knew she had her answer. "How so very predictable you are, Salena. I had heard you took his side-"

"I didn't pick _his_ side. I picked my own. This idiotic war is going to level the city if it continues. I choose life over watching the whole place burn up. Batman is the only person who can bring this to an end. Do you think the Joker will stop at Downtown? He's angling for the whole thing. Can you imagine a city run by the Joker? Is that what you want Ivy!" Salena chided.

"Do you think I care what happens to a city who has done nothing to stem the slaughter of mother earth? Why should I lift a finger to help when man has done nothing to help me? From where I'm sitting letting the city rip itself apart so that the Green can rise from it's ashes seems like a pretty good plan to me." Ivy snapped back at her.

"Guess what sister, you're human too. You may try and hide from that part of yourself, but it's true. And Believe it or not, we're friends Pam. I'm not going to let you destroy our home because you're too damn stubborn to help." Catwoman's claw glinted in the dim light that filtered in through the canopy above. "Look, Batman wanted to come in-Flamethrowers and all, but I told him I could reason with you. He thinks you're with Joker. A lot of people do, so just tell me what happened tonight and we can fix this thing together."

The tension in Ivy's body subsided and she relaxed back into the Wisteria.

"I can't stand mellow drama." She mused as she turned her attention to one of her seedling vines. "Nothing came of my meeting."

"That's not much to go on Ivy."

"What do you know about his new plaything—Quinn?"

Selena retracted her claws, relaxed, and shrugged.

"Nothing good, poor thing. I heard she was a doctor before he got into her head and scrambled her brains. Now she's just his personal punching bag. It's actually pretty sad. She thinks it's love."

Ivy didn't look away from the small bud, but something familiar resonated inside her.

"She dangerous. I wouldn't underestimate her." Ivy paused then added. "The Joker wants to take on Cobblepot next. He offered me half of East Park for my help, but he can't offer me what's already mine. We left on rocky terms. Tell your friend that."

The Two of Hearts

For every decision made, there are always consequences. This was a fact of life that Ivy was intimately aware of. She had made many choices in her life that had sour consequences, but the raid on Savage Nightclub tasted oh so sweet. Both Joker and Penguin had been snagged in the cross hairs, but it seemed Harley had slipped away and vanished.

In Ivy's opinion, the war had become a senseless slaughter with more bodies washing up dead daily, but she would have been foolish if she didn't take advantage of opportunities when they were offered. With Cobblepot and Joker temporarily out of the game, Ivy had taken control of Saint Mary's Park and had turned her attention to cultivating East Park as she had the others.

Late in the evening, a week after Joker's bust, Ivy made her way into Downtown and stood at the entrance to East Park trying devising just where to start. It was easily the biggest park in Gotham City and had once been the most beautiful, but pollution had choked the life from the grass and stained the lake yellow. Ivy knew with a little love it could be a paradise.

The iron gate which was covered in vines swung closed behind her and the green twisting rope grew until the gate had been completely sealed.

Ivy toiled over the garden for hours, nurturing the sick, repotting, watering, and trimming whenever needed. Certainly, the plants grew and obeyed her, but sometimes a more delicate touch was called for. It was hard work and by the time she was finished Ivy felt so drained, she hadn't noticed a figure slip out of the shadows behind her.

"Stop what'chur doing and turn around slowly." barked Harley Quinn nervously.

Ivy didn't move or even give the girl a second glance. Instead, she continued to prune an infant as she hummed tunelessly to it.

"What do _you_ want?" She asked with a touch of boredom in her voice.

When Harley didn't speak Ivy glance back over her shoulder. To say the girl was a mess was putting it mildly. She was downright filthy. Clasped between her trembling hands was a gun that wobbled on the spot.

"I want ya to confess! I want ya to say that you turned on J and that you're the reason he's locked up." Harley said blurrily.

"-Or you'll what, shoot me?" Ivy said dryly. "You didn't come here to kill me, Harley. So what did you come here for?"

Again Harley didn't answer. Chances were she didn't even know why she was there. Ivy casually wondered just how long Harley had watched her for. She placed the bud in the ground and covered it to the neck with dirt. When she was done she stood up and motioned for Harley to follow her.

"Come with me"

They walked silently for a quarter of an hour before they reached the far end of the park where the caretaker's house sat lost among thorns. Ivy held open the door for Harley to pass through. The inside of the cottage was nothing special, the house plants had become overgrown and the furniture had spots of mildew, but otherwise, it was untouched.

"Why are we here?" Harley looked around as if she were about to spring a trap.

Ivy stepped through the threshold and immediately unzipped the gardeners jumpsuit she wore and tossed it aside. She then proceeded to the kitchen where she began to rummage through the cabinets. In a matter of minutes, she had tea brewing on the stove.

"I thought we might talk, woman to woman." Ivy passed a cup to Harley, who took it with uncertainty. " Don't worry it's not poisoned."

"Are you going to put clothes on?" Harley asked as she sipped.

"No."

The tea had its intended effect almost immediately; Harley began to relax. A smile twitched at the corner of her lip as she watched Ivy mill about the kitchen.

"What'd'ya want to talk about?"

"Let's start with why a smart girl like you, thought she could pull a gun on me twice and get away with it."

Harley hesitated.

"Pretty stupid huh-"

"Depends on what you wanted to accomplish." Ivy truly hoped for a short conversation. Small talk was not one of her more developed skills.

"Did you rat on J?" Harley asked. Her question was a matter of fact. She wasn't accusing, but the truth seemed to be important to her.

"You can't "rat" on someone who isn't your friend to begin with, but I suppose you could say I made choices based on what would benefited me the most and that lead directly to the Joker being locked up. So sure—if that's the way you want to put it, I ratted him out."

The steal in Harley's blue eyes returned as if she were appraising Ivy-as if taking note of her. There was a subtle shift in the way she carried herself. Less weak and more certain. It was the same special something that had caught Ivy off balance back at the club. It was as if there were a whole other person hidden behind the clown make-up and smile.

"Don't have a lotta friend, do ya? That must be painful-livin' in such pretty places with no one to share it with."

Ivy sat a little straighter irritated at the way Harley was watching her so closely.

"Despite what you may believe, I'm never alone. I can hear the voices of all the plants in this garden and all across gotham. I can hear when they're happy, when they're thirsty, and I can hear when they scream."

"Yikes, sounds a little morbid don't'cha think, Red?"

Ivy's eyes flashed their toxic green, but she remained rooted in her chair as she quietly drank her tea. Harley's steal calculating gaze seemed to look right through her.

"Sounds ta' me that you gotta bad case of antisocial disorder. Why do'ya think that is?" Harley's face remained innocently serine though she delighted in her manipulation. What had Selena said? _'I heard she was a doctor before he got into her head and scrambled her brains.'_

Ivy cocked her head to the side in a ploy to regain control of the conversation.

"Interesting diagnosis _Dr. Quinn_ ," She said with a seductive touch to her tone. "Is this how you tried to talk to him? Thought you'd crack open that demented mind and find out all his secrets? Psychiatry is quite an intimate thing, wouldn't you say? It's easy to lose yourself in someone else's madness."

Ivy's fingers ran down her neck of their own accord and she watched smugly as Harley's eyes followed lustfully. Humans were all the same.

"-An'that would be the hypersexuality. Interesting I was wonderin' how you managed to make both work for ya-" Harley chuckled softly as she bit her own lip. "I read your file, Red. I know all about you an' the games you like to play. Since ya like twenty questions so much why not try this; Tell me about the last time you actually had sex, Red. Tell me about the last time you touched another person for longer than a minute. It's been a while hasn't it?"

Harley tapped the table with her index finger.

"See, the interestin' thing about sex is, the people who are havin' it don't need to talk about it. And the people aren't well-" She motioned to Ivy's naked form. "-they can't stop talk'n about it."

Harley got up and moved to Ivy's side and sat on the tabletop, inches away from Ivy's poisonous skin.

"Ask me when the last time I had sex was- a week ago before you got my puddin sent away." Harley extended her fingers out so that they were only a breath away from her cheek. Ivy could feel the heat that came from her soft human skin. It caused a sputtering in her chest that felt painfully raw as Harley traced a pattern across her cheek as if brushing her hair behind her ear. The pale woman leaned forward and whispered, "I could do you in ways no man ever could."

Harley leaned back and slid off the table leaving Ivy lost in her own thoughts and memories. However, she had made a few steps toward the door when she collapsed unconscious on the floor.

"Shit," Ivy muttered snapping out of her thoughts. She jumped up from the table and opened a window. "Stupid girl."

It had been a very long time since she had lost control of her emotions, let alone the toxins her body naturally created. By science standards, Poison Ivy was a living marvel. Not only could she communicate with plant her body was immune to nearly every noxious substance known to man. Even alcohol had a limited effect that last minutes rather than hours. What was incredible was that Harley had managed to stay clear headed all while Ivy had secreted enough pheromones to attract a hundred men, up to ten blocks away.

Later, Harley would wake to find herself alone in a private room back at Savage nightclub with two of her own gang standing watch over the door. In the center of the table sat a single long stemmed rose addressed to Harley Quinn. 

* * *

A/N I had so much fun writing Quinn/Ivy piece I decided to throw something a little darker together. Expect a few chapters. #mymuseisallovertheplace 


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